Car-coupling.



L. F. POWELL & G. L. ANDREWS.

GAR COULING,

APPLIGATION FILED AUG.22,1912.

1,056,298 Patented Mar.18,1913.

.21 rE- l t j WLM/momo Pd/@ZZ I anal e. mw @L1/flieg@ Ma LATENT FFQE.

entran srarns 'EUGENE F. ECV/'ELL ANB L. ANDREW-IS, 0F NEWPGRT NEV'S, VIRGNEA.

GB-CGUPLNG.

To afl cti/wm t may concer/n Be it known that we, EUGENE l?. OWELL and Grenen- L. Arrnnnws, citizens of the United States, residing at Newport hews, in the county of lllarwick and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful improvements in 1Couplers; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it agpertains to make and use the same.

rlfhis invention relates to railway draft appliances and more especially to couplings of the Janney type; and the object of the same is to ei'fect improvements in the lmuckle-openers and locks thereof. This object is accomplished by providing one side of the knuckle with a peculiar formation of lug having a cam and notch, and providing the vertically movable pin with a cam slot or groove engaging said cam and with a latch movable with respect to the pin and adapted to engage said notch, so that the whole will operate substantially as hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and as shown in the drawings wherein- Figure l is a front elevation of the ent-ire coupling with the jaw closed, and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the coupling, and a section through the end of the car on about the line of Fig. l. Figs. e, 5, 6 and 7 are enlarged side elevations of the head of the draw bar only, F ig. a showing the latch down and Fig. showing it up, and lli and T being partly in section, the former showing the pin down and the latter showing the pin up. Fig. S is a vertical sect-ion on the line S-S of Fig. Il, and Fig. 9 is a horizontal section on the line 9 9 thereof. Fig. l0 is a sectional perspective view of the lower portion of the draw head; and Figs. ll, l2 and i3 are perspective details of parts as will be referred to hereinafter.

In the drawings the letter D designates broadly the draw bar and li the fixed portion of the draw head within which on an upright king bolt l is pivoted the knuckle l as usual in the Janney type of car couplings. h' o novelty is claimed for this much of our invention, excepting that the king bolt is disposed in the transverse central line of the car coupling complete, and directly in the line of the draft, and the eye l. of the knuckle l engaging` said king bolt is disposed directly in rear of that portion of the Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 22, 1912.

Patented it, serial no. 716,491.1.

hook of the knuckle which engages the similar portion of the corresponding hook in the opposite coupling-the obvious intention being to center the draft along the line of the two draw bars and throughout the parts of this improved coupling so that when the train is running on a straight track there is no tendency for the knuckles to disengage each other.

rlhe object of the present invention is to open a closed knuckle and to lock it in open or closed position, and in doing so we employ a vertically movable pin which of course may be actuated by any approved means. However, for purposes of illustration we have shown in the present instance a rock shaft or rod R suitably mounted in proper bearings on the end of the car, and having downturned handles at its extremities, by means of which it may be manipulated from either side of the car, and a lever or loop li formed at an intermediate point within its length and connected with the latch yet to be described so that the lat-ter may be raised or lowered as is necessary. lt is to be understood, however, that we do not limit ourselves to the specific form of pin lifter, and the same is shown merely for purposes of illustration.

Coming now more particularly to the details of the present invention, the jaw or hook @l of the knuckle K projects forward and turns laterally to one side as usual, and the eye l thereof engages the king` bolt B at a point in rear of the bill of said hook as above described; and at one side of said eye the body carries a lug or extension l projecting laterally thereof when the hook stands forward of the eye and having a peculiar formation as best seen in Fig. ll, that is to say, the lug l is substantially L-shaped in plan view, and v ithin its angle is disposed an oblique cam 2, while its outer end or foot is notched in its upper side as at 8. rllhrough one side of the head icl of the draw bar, laterally with respect to the king bolt B, is formed an upright opening l0 intersected by a horizontal opening l1 in which latter moves the lug l when the knuckle swings around its pivot. The size and shape of these openings is not essential, but they should be ample to permit the parts to work freely therein without unduly detracting from the strength of the draw head. rl`he upright opening is by preference made square or angular, and the lateral opening by preference opens through the side of the drain: head u so that access to the interior may be had, although if desired this opening might be covered to keep out dust and dirt. Slidably mounted in the upright opening is the pin best shown in Fig. 12, and the pin in turn carries the latch best seen in lli 12%, the upper end of the latter being flexibly connected as by means of a link or chain 13 with the lever or loop L on the rock shaft or rod lt above referred to. lf the upright opening 11 be square, the body 11i of the pin will be squared accordingly at its upper end A, but its lower end 15 is cut away on its outer side so that it is thinner in order to permit it to pass behind the hook of the l -shaped lug, and this thinner portion is provided with a cam slot 16 adapted to enga the cam 2 above described. Said lower end is continued downward in an extension 17 which is preferably made yet thinner and smaller than such end, and the projection projects through the reduced lower end 18 of the upright opening 10 and may carry a cotter pin 1.9 or other suitable deyice for preventing the accidental displacement of the pin from the draw-heat lil.

The latch has a body Q() which is by preference dove-tailed in cross section and an extension 21 at its upper end which is smaller than the body so as to leave a shoulder E22 between them; and the chain or link 13 is loosely connected to the upper end of said extension 21. rllhis latch lies preferably in a dore-tailed grooye Q3 formed in the thicker portion or body 14- of the pin, the upper end of said groove being shallower and shouldered as shown at Ql to engage the shoulder 22 on the latch when the latter is raised with its lower end substantially flush with the lower end of the body 1-Ll of the pin, Thus it will be seen. that the latch has a slight movement independent ot' the moyement of the pin; that when it ri,r until the shoulders Q2 and Ql: engage, if it be further lifted by means of the link it will lift the pin with it; and that in its descent its first movement is topermitI the descent of the pin, and its second movement is to more downward within the groove 23 so that its lower end engages the notch 3 in the lug 1 of the knuckle. All parts are by preference made of metal, and the sizes, shapes, proportions and details other than set forth are unimportant.

rihe operation of the device with the parts progl erly nbled is as follows: lilith the knuckle in its closed or locked position, when it is desired to uncouple the cars the pin-lifting mechanism is actuated to draw upward on the link 1B; this lirst raises the two latches 20' so that their lower ends are lifted out of the notches 2 in the lugs 1; and continued manipulation of the lifting mechanism causes the further rise of the Loader latches until their shoulders engage those in the bottom of the grooves in the pins, and the latter are raised within the upright rings 10. ls the pins rise, their cam grooves or slots l@ cause the forward moyenient of the cams 2 on the knuckles so that the latter are turned around the king bolt li to a suttlcient degree to disengage the bills of their hooks, and the cars are uncoupled. it this time the cotter pin or other device 1) strikes the lower side of the head ll, and the further rise ot the pin is checked. lllhen now it is desired to again close the knuckle, it is only necessary to more downward on the mechanism herein typified by the rock shaft lt and the lever lg; this permits the latch 2O to descend within the groove 23, and, the support for the pin being thus removed, the latter falls or is pushed down by the lever, and its cam slot or groove 16 engaging the cani 2 will cause the knuckle to turn around the king bolt B so that its hook is engaged with the hook of the companion draw head.

lllhat is claimed as new' is:

1. ln a car coupling, the combination with the draw bar and head, the latter havine an upright opening at one side of its central line, a king bolt, and the knuckle having an eye pivotally mounted on said bolt and a laterally projecting lug movable across said opening as the knuckle swings on its pivot; of a vertically movable pin mounted in said opening and having an oblique cam slot, an l.shaped projection atth-e outer end of said lug provided with a notch in its upper side, an oblique cani within said projection engaging said slot, and a latch niovably mounted on said pin and adapted to engage said notch after the piu has been moved downward to swing the am to the rear.

Q. ln a car coupling', the combination with the head, a knuckle pivoted therein and having` a lateral projection provided with a notch, and an oblique cam carried by said projection; of a pin having a square body movable vertically in an opening through said head and reduced in thickness below said body and slotted obliquely so as to engage said cam, the lower end of the pin projecting through a reduced opening in the bottom of the body and carrying a cotter pin, the upper end of said body havii'ig a dove-tailed groove reduced and internally shouldered at its upper extremity, and a latch having a dove-tailed body sl idably titting said groove and a reduced and shouldered extension at its upper end, the length of the latch being such that when it is raised so that its lower end disengages said notch, said shoulders contact and the further lifting of the latch will raise the pin, for the purpose set forth.

3. ln a car coupling, the combination with the head, a knuckle pivoted therein and having a lateral projection provided with a notch, and an oblique cam carried by said projection; of a pin movable vertically in an opening through said head and reduced in thickness at its lower partand slotted obliquely so as to engage said Cam, the upper end of said pin having a dove-tailed `groove reduced and internally shouldered at its upper extremity, a latch having a dovetailed body slidably fitting said groove and a reduced and should-ered extension at its upper end, the length of the latch being such that when it is raised so that its lower end disengages said notch said shoulders 15 contactand the further lifting of the latch will raise the pin, and means for raising said latch.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto Set our hands in presence of two subscrib- 20 ing witnesses.

EUGENE F. POWELL. GEORGE L. ANDREWS. Vitnesses:

W. B. VEST, GEO. B. WEST.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C. 

